So, I've been loading for ~10 years now, and just learned that keeping all my loading notes and records in one place is a very bad idea.



Because my notebook is now gone.



I had painstakingly compiled 10 years of notes and chrony data into one master binder, with a section devoted to each caliber, and subsections for each firearm.



It was my load bible.



It is gone forever.



I am stuck with what I remember, and the ammo I have loaded with info written on the boxes.



I remember all my favorite handgun loads by heart, until I run out of that batch of powder.



But the rifle data that was lost...that will cost me!



Now I know. Back up your data, even if and especially when it is hard copy on paper!

I'll bite. How'd ya lose it?

Stolen out of my garage.



I don't understand the minds of thieves.



They bypassed most of the 10s of thousands worth of tools, but managed to find the rubbermaid tote that had a bunch of my reloading manuals and about 5000 rnds of .22lr stashed in it.

Clearly a neckbeard at work.

In all seriousness though, that's a total bummer about your manual being stolen. Thanks for the PSA. You planning to digitize things now?  What about plans to make the garage more secure?

Haha! My first thought when I saw the ammo was gone was to drop to my knees, shake my fist at the heavens, and scream, "Kneckbeards!!"



From now on, I will photocopy every hand written page and store it separately. I will probably also take digital photos and store them all on a disk or USB drive.



The burglar came in through a window on the side of the garage. I have since moved an 8 ft tall steel cabinet in front of that window, and it's loaded with a metric ton of heavy stuff.



 

I usually label every cartridge box to describe what it contains.  

Take a round or two of every cartridge and measure it, then record the data.  Pull the bullet and weigh the powder.  Record powder type and  charge weight .  

Either method will get you the final recipe you used.  It will not get you the parametric data they stole.  :(


Consider offering a reward for the return of the book.

Wow, that sucks - really sorry to hear that.  
I've had a place broken into before (they got a motorcycle, among other things that all add up.. ), and it sucks, to put it mildly.

3 suggestions, maybe one of them might work for you.
1.  If you really want to keep paper notes, get a cheap all in one printer, or even just an updated scanner.  Scan to email or to your system, and keep one or more folders..but set them up on dropbox, so you're not stuck to a single PC/Mac/device having access, and not tied to e.g. a single USB key that can and do go bad.
2.  Considering creating an Excel workbook, possibly embedding pictures of targets into favorite loads.  I use an Excel to track my components, max OAL and SNs for all firearms....then again, store or copy it to Dropbox or other cloud based storage.
3.  If Excel isn't your thing (not sure it's anyones, really, but works OK for some things), something like Evernote or OneNote run across most devices, easily allow drag n drop of pictures into each page...and are already cloud based.

You obviously have a computer of some type and lets assume you also have a printer/scanner.  A better idea would be to keep a copy of all your handloading data on your computer (with suitable backups I know you already do for your other computer data ) and then you can print out anything you want for your reloading bench copy.

Save it in the cloud.

I import all my chrono data into an Excel spreadsheet.  The file gets annotated with the pertinent load data.  That gets saved to disk and periodically backed up.

I have a file (workbook) for each cartridge type and a worksheet for each bullet weight.  Within the worksheets, I describe which rifle was used for testing, conditions, etc.  

I have taken to photographing the primers after firing to record their appearance.  I make sure there's a 3X5 card with a road map included in the photo, so I know which cartridge had which charge.  I paste a copy of the photo into the worksheet.  

I run statistical analyses on my data in the worksheet.  

I make appropriate plots to summarize my data and show trends and spreads.

Even with all that, I have a "book".  It has the paper targets, cartridge and chamber drawings, etc.  It has the paper tapes (prinouts) of the chrono data.

At first, I thought OP's name was appropriate.  



However, I'm now gonna copy my dad's box o'loads into my computer.

Feel for ya OP, I really do. Thieves suck!
I need to computerize mine too.

For the time being, my load notes are in a left over notebook from my daughter. It has kitty cats and princesses on both covers. It has caused more than one double take from gun folks when they see my bench.

I call it "clever camoflage" so that no one knows what is inside the notebook and it could be otherwise tossed aside as silly junk. Makes for fun times when I ask the wife or kids where my kitty cat notebook is!

I have reloading OCD and ADD in everything else. To help overcome my handicap/blessing I print avery labels for every box of ammo I load and keep records in Excel and Word. Betting your memory is better than most and like riding a bicycle it will come back to you when you least expect it. Memory sticks are cheap and your friend.

Never store your backups in the same place as your primary data. Keep backups online, at work, in a gun safe, etc. Even though I use a MAC, I still back up.

My your thief die in a fire and soon...

Use Google docs.  I can edit, create, whatever, all via my cell phone, tablet while Im sitting at my bench or work on them from my computer.

I keep spreadsheets there with load info, which tracks loads, what worked, what didnt.  Round count on each firearm, so I know how much Im actually shooting through each firearm.  What parts/pieces is on each firearm, so my insurance company can see the real value of my $1500+ ARs vs a $600 starter gun.  I also keep my serial numbers and photos stored on my Google drive for all my guns for insurance reasons.

Thanks, guys. I love the Google docs and drive suggestion!



I can do that with almost no effort.



I would rather drive hot needles into my eyes than sit and punch all this stuff into Excel...I just hate doing data entry!

LOL!  You need a chronograph that exports its data in a compatible file type.  It is painless.

You can really learn a lot by processing your data (stats and plots) but if you're not interested, that's your choice.

Its not too bad if you do it while you load.  Start a new load or a variant, start a new line.  Copy paste the static data at your desktop, type in the new data, view it in your cell or tablet.  The nice thing about doing it with a smartphone or tablet, is you can do it at the range, while you are shooting.

"I had painstakingly compiled 10 years of notes and chrony data into one master binder, with a section devoted to each caliber, and subsections for each firearm."

Wow…and Dayam.  I do it exactly the same way.

Maybe the master binder needs to live in the gun safe.

I really think hard copy is the best way to go.  Even more shit can happen with electronic storage.  

My "master catalog" is in my house in my reloading room; right outside my bedroom.  No unauthorized visitors are getting in there without an accompanying set of bullet holes.